Mortal Coil
by ruminant
Summary: After the battle with Sailor Galaxia, Usagi is distraught. Sailor Lethe's words haunt her. Is she truly the cause of suffering? Usagi is given a chance to see what the world would have been like if she and the ginzishou had never been sent forward by Quee
1. Prologue

Mortal Coil Prologue by ruminant Prologue Rated: G

She was alone on the observation deck. Glittering stars winked at her as she silently stood. The gentle lights of the city below stared up at her. Her position was the same as always - stuck in limbo between heaven and earth.

A soft sigh escaped Usagi's lips as she replayed a moment from her most recent battle. She knew she shouldn't refer to it as her "last" battle. There would always be more.

Sailor Lethe's words cut through her thoughts, causing her to shiver. "There will always be battles as long as the Ginzuishou exists," Usagi whispered in agreement.

She had always known this, but knowing and believing do not always go together.

All the fighting. All the death. All because of a small, glowing jewel. A relic from a kingdom long dead.

Usagi wished she could destroy the crystal, but she knew it was impossible. The Ginzuishou was destined to shine on - as was she.

"Why did Queen Serenity send it forward with us?" she thought.

Everything would have been better. Peaceful.

"I wish the Ginzuishou was never sent forward through time," she whispered to herself.

"It's a miracle that it was," a female voice stated.

Usagi whipped around to face the interloper. "Pluto?" she asked as her breath hung in a mist around her face.

Ignoring her princess' surprise, Sailor Pluto stepped closer. Her magenta eyes sparkled in the starlight. "Many specific actions needed to take place in order for the Ginzuishou to awaken. If only one small thing was omitted, the crystal - and you - would have been lost," she stated.

"You were guiding us... even then," Usagi replied as she realized what Sailor Pluto was implying, "But why? Why bother? The absence of the ginzuishou - of Sailor Moon - would have meant peace."

Tears now fell from Usagi's eyes as the impact of what she had said hit her. How different could things have been?

Sailor Pluto was silent. Her brow furrowed as if she were contemplating something important. Finally, she spoke, "Perhaps I can help you understand. When I allowed you to travel forward in time to Crystal Tokyo, I told you that the city you saw was only a possible future. As the Guardian of Time, I can see many different possibilities. I can show you a discarded timeline. An alternate timeline where the ginzuishou was not found."

Usagi's eyes grew huge. "You can do that!" she choked.

Sailor Pluto nodded slightly. It wasn't technically against the rules. Even if it were, Pluto had been known to bend the rules from time to time. "You will be able to see this other timeline, but you won't be seen. Would you like me to show you?" she asked.

Usagi knew she would never receive this offer again. She desperately wanted to know if she was truly the cause of suffering. "Yes," she stated.

Sailor Pluto tapped her Garnet Rod once upon the deck and summoned the Time Gate. Its ornate doors opened soundlessly, beckoning the two to enter.

Usagi slowly stepped forward into the gaping void, searching for the answers it held. 


	2. Mortal Coil Chapter One

Mortal Coil Chapter One by ruminant Rated: G

Tumbling Tumbling Twirling through endless colors... dazzling patterns of light.

Usagi wanted to close her eyes. She wanted the dizzying display to stop before it was burned into her retinas. In a sudden panic, she realized she couldn't shut her eyes. She couldn't move at all. She was stuck in one moment in time, a moment that stretched into infinity. 

Just as she realized this, everything stopped. There were no more colors or patterns. Her dizziness and nausea vanished as though she had never felt them.

Confused, she glanced up to see the full moon shining down on her. The sight of her former home comforted her. She carefully turned in a circle, surveying her surroundings. She was at the base of the Tokyo Tower, she realized. Except... there was no tower. A broken foundation sat where the tower should have rested. 

"Did the Time Gate do this?" she wondered in fright. She sat on an unsteady piece of foundation. Sweat began to drench her clothing despite the chill in the air as she pondered the thought. The Time Gate had not been so violent when she had visited Crystal Tokyo. Had it malfunctioned?

"Mother, I really do believe it would be the best thing."

Usagi had been concentrating so hard on the problems of the Time Gate, she had not realized when two women had walked up to her. Focusing her attention on the pair, she smiled in recognition. 

"Ami-chan!" she happily called out as she stood.

"I know you believe that," Ami's mother replied with a sigh, "but won't you miss your classmates?"

"Ami-chan! It's me!" Usagi yelled more loudly, waving.

The two women continued to stroll towards the blonde as she shouted and waved her arms. 

"I wish you wouldn't worry about that. I have always been mature for my age. I won't have any difficulties getting along with the university students. Besides, many of the brightest students leave high school early to attend University. This would help me achieve my goals much more quickly," the daughter stated with resolve.

"Ami-chan?" Usagi whispered the name once more as she stood directly in front of one of her dearest friends, who paid her no atention. "Am I truly in a different reality? Can't you see me?"

Ami's mother laid a gentle hand on her daughter's shoulder and nodded. "I trust you to make good decisions with your life, Ami. You have never done anything to dissuade me from believing in your abilities. You have my permission."

Usagi looked sadly at her friend as Ami smiled contentedly. "I am finally on my way to achieving my dreams," Ami stated serenely as she unknowingly passed through Usagi's body.

Usagi stared wide-eyed at the retreating form of her friend. She raised her hands and inspected them closely. Yes, she was still whole. Mystified, she examined the rest of her body and similarly found no gaping holes a person might traverse through. She remembered Sailor Pluto had told her she would not be seen in the alternate timeline. Until her encounter with Ami, she had not had time to think about that statement.

"Ami seems happy, though," she thought with a smile. "At least she will fulfill her dreams in this reality."

Being free from her identity as a soldier, Ami could now pursue her dream of becoming a doctor. Usagi felt her heart lighten. Her friend was happy. That was the only thing that mattered. However, this had not been Ami's destiny in Usagi's reality. Guilt settled into her previously lightened heart. In Usagi's reality, Ami never graduated high school early. She never enrolled in University. "I kept her from reaching her dream," Usagi realized. "The stress of fighting must have slowed her studies. The time Ami lost battling evil should have been used in other ways. This should have been her destiny."

Tears formed in her eyes as she looked to the dark sky. The moon shone down on her, mocking her. She allowed the silent tears to glisten on her cheeks in the yellow glow of the streetlights.

"Not everything is as it seems..." a soothing voice whispered.

Startled, Usagi whipped her head in every direction. She saw no one. "Sailor Pluto...?" she called out.

No reply reached her ears. She was certain she had heard the voice of Sailor Pluto. What had the Guardian of Time meant? 

"Should I follow her?" Usagi asked the quiet night. Realizing she would get no answer, Usagi decided she had nothing better to do. Glancing down the street, she could still see Ami and her mother in the distance. The two were walking at a slow pace in the direction of their apartment.

Usagi took off at a jog toward the pair. As she neared them, she began to hear their conversation. "...entire night. We weren't sure he would live but he stabilized and made it through the night," Ami's mother stated.

Usagi tuned out most of the conversation as she followed the women to their complex. She understood very little of the medical jargon the two used to pepper their sentences. They sounded more like colleagues discussing their patients than a mother and teenage daughter.

She followed them into the apartment complex and through the elevator doors. Silence fell as the lift rose higher. Usagi was startled once again as she noticed she cast no reflection in the elevator's mirrored doors. Becoming a phantom that haunted one of her best friends was not what Usagi had expected.

A ding signaled they had reached their desired floor. Stepping out just as the doors shut again, Usagi followed her friend inside the apartment. The living room was exactly the same as she remembered. Elegant, yet understated, furniture decorated the room. Just as she did every time she visited Ami's home, Usagi wished she could have such lovely things.

"Good night, Mother," Ami said as she kissed her mother's cheek.

"Good night, Ami," her mother replied as she gathered what she would take to work.

As Mrs. Mizuno's hands moved about gathering her purse and coat, Usagi noticed a glint on her right ring finger. "What a beautiful ring," Usagi sighed in appreciation. "It looks familiar..."

Pondering the ring, she remembered where she had seen it before: just after the senshi had returned from the Moon with the sword they found there. Ami had tested the sword's durability by breaking a diamond on it. The same diamond that now decorated Mrs. Mizuno's finger.

Usagi knew she shouldn't be so surprised. After all, with no Ginzuishou, there was no need to go to the Moon and bring back a mystical sword. She smiled. Usagi had been horrified by the broken diamond anyway.

As her mother walked out the door, Ami walked into her bedroom. Usagi followed a few steps behind. Simple furniture adorned the bleak boudoir. Several textbooks were stacked on the meticulously neat desk. 

What Usagi noticed most were the walls. They were a stark white color, and they bore nothing. There were no posters, no paintings, no pictures. In Usagi's reality, Ami's walls were adorned with many photographs of her friends. Usagi's favorite had been one of Ami and herself that had been taken the day after Ami's senshi powers were revealed.

The plant Makoto had given Ami on her last birthday was missing from the desk as was the gaudy Three Lights poster Minako had insisted Ami hang above her bed. Usagi chuckled as she recalled how Minako had given a speech about the duties of a fan.

As Usagi surveyed the room, Ami quickly changed into a simple night gown.  
Reaching toward her nightstand, she absent-mindedly pressed "play" on her answering machine. "You have one new message," the automated voice blandly stated.

Ami's face lit up as the announcement stated the presence of a message. However, as soon as the message played, her cheeks flushed and she lowered her head. Usagi noticed the familiar signs of embarrassment. Ami had always blushed easily.

"Note to self," Ami's recorded voice began. "Mail admissions papers to the University tomorrow morning."

Ami pressed the "delete" button. "I forgot I left that..." she mumbled to herself. "I don't know why Mother insisted on getting me a separate phone line for my birthday. No one ever calls."

Sighing dejectedly, Ami gracefully sat on her bed. "But, of course, ALL teenage girls want their own phone line," she said, mimicking her mother's voice.

"At least I won't have to deal with trying to make friends when I'm at University," Ami stated as she wiped a stray tear from her face. "I simply won't have time for friends when I'm studying."

After snuggling under the warm comforter, Ami reached again to her nightstand. Sparing a moment to glance at the answering machine, she reached out and clicked off her lamp.

The urgent ring of the telephone was a relief to Usagi. For the past half hour she had paced around her friend's room with nothing to do. She had scanned the bookshelf, but when she had reached out to take a book, her hand slipped through it. It was for the best, anyway, since Usagi would never have been able to read "Advanced Genetics Volume II." Apparently, the only parts of her body that could touch anything were her feet.

"Come on Ami-chan," Usagi whined impatiently on the third ring, "Answer it!"

Ami awoke with a groan as the telephone rang for the fourth time. Glancing at the clock, she realized she had only fallen asleep a few minutes earlier. "Hello?" she whispered sleepily into the receiver.

After a short pause as the caller spoke, Ami was suddenly wide awake. Her eyes were wide and alarmed, and the color drained from her face. "Is she hurt? Is she all right?"

Another pause. Ami's face relaxed slightly as she heard the reply.  
Usagi crept closer to her friend and strained to hear the muffled voice of the caller. "Who's hurt!" Usagi cried in frustration when she couldn't make out the other side of the conversation.

"Yes. Yes, I'll be right there," Ami replied to some unknown question.

As soon as the telephone was hung up, Ami leapt out of bed. Racing around the room throwing on random articles of clothing, she looked more like Usagi than Ami. In a matter of minutes, Ami was dressed and dashing out of her apartment in a mismatched red shirt and purple skirt.

"Ami-chan!" Usagi yelled after her as she gave chase. "Wait for me!"

Usagi followed her friend out of the apartment building and through the dark streets of Tokyo. Even on the way to battle a youma, she had never seen Ami run so quickly. 

The always polite Ami roughly shoved her way through a group of teenagers who hurled insults after her. She turned a corner so quickly that Usagi skidded past the turn in her haste to keep up with her friend.

Gasping for air, Usagi tailed her until Ami finally slowed down and climbed the steps to the police station. Usagi didn't have a chance to wonder about her friend's destination as she leapt up the stairs and bolted through the door.

Looking around frantically, Ami spotted her mother sitting in a well-  
worn chair. There were bruises on her arms and a gash on her lovely face just above her left eye. "Mama!" Ami cried as she embraced the woman. "Are you all right?"

Ami's mother clung to her daughter with all her strength. She was obviously relieved to be in the company of her only child. "She'll be fine," a deep voice stated.

Usagi and Ami turned to see a young police officer striding towards them. Ami's mother nodded her agreement. "I'm fine. I'll be fine," she whispered hoarsely into her daughter's ear.

Ami broke away from her mother's grasp and stared at the officer. Her eyes burned with the desire for justice. "Who did this!" she demanded. "Did you catch him?"

Usagi's eyes widened at Ami's outburst. She had rarely seen the other girl so angry, so...righteous. Only when Ami's loved ones were in danger did she show such emotions. Usagi had never seen this side of Ami outside of a battle.

The police officer frowned. "Unfortunately, we haven't caught him yet. However, your mother was very helpful with her description. We will do our very best to bring this man to justice," he resolved.

Usagi was getting frustrated. Everyone but her knew exactly what was going on and she didn't like it one bit. "What happened!" she bellowed as she stomped her foot impatiently on the worn linoleum.

As though she had heard Usagi's cry, Ami's mother began to explain to her worried daughter. "He just... I didn't see him until he was right in front of me. You know I never wear jewelry to work, but I was so worried about being late I forgot to take off my ring. He took it. He... he took my purse and my ring." Tears fell down the woman's cheeks as she related her story. The shock of her ordeal was finally wearing off. 

"From your description of the ring, I would assume when he saw you wearing it he figured he could get plenty of other jewelry and money from you as well," the officer stated. "I'm very sorry this happened to you. We just can't seem to keep up with crime lately. Crime has been increasing ever since Tokyo Tower was destroyed. This never would have happened five years ago."

Usagi gasped in disbelief as Ami huddled close to her sobbing mother. "No!" Usagi shouted as she clapped her hands over her ears, denying the truth she had just realized. "No! No! No no NO!"

The officer had said that crime had been worsening over the past five years. During that time, Usagi had been Sailor Moon and Tokyo's crime rate had actually decreased during that time. What criminal would try to mug a defenseless woman when a superhero capable of defeating grotesque monsters was prowling the streets of the city? Simply the existence of Sailor Moon had discouraged countless crimes.

Usagi sobbed along with Ami and her mother. "This isn't how it was supposed to be," she whispered to her friend. "You were supposed to be happy."

Closing her eyes, Usagi attempted to steady her breathing. Perhaps her other friends were happy. At least she had the hope that her other loved ones were leading bright lives full of joy in this reality. She didn't notice the sounds of sobbing fading away as she contemplated the fates of her other friends.

When she finally opened her eyes, she found herself again in a kaleidoscope of colors and patterns. The vertigo clutched at her once more as she traveled without movement through time and space. 


End file.
